As such a type of socket for an electric component, an IC socket is conventionally known in which a contact pin is disposed. This IC socket is designed to be disposed on a wiring circuit board to house an IC package which is an object to be inspected, and a terminal of this IC package and an electrode of the wiring circuit board are electrically connected together via the contact pin to conduct a test such as a conductivity test.
Conventionally, to conduct a test efficiently, a plurality of IC sockets may be arranged side by side, and IC packages may be housed in the respective IC sockets to simultaneously conduct tests on the plurality of IC packages (e.g., see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-78576).
Conventionally, a cooling apparatus provided with a cooling head for cooling an IC package may be used to keep an IC package under testing at a predetermined temperature (e.g., see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-78576). The IC socket may be provided with a heat slug made of a material with high thermal conductivity, the heat slug may be pressed by the cooling head to move downward, and the heat slug may press the IC package so that the IC package is cooled by the cooling head via the heat slug.
As described above, the apparatus that conducts tests on a plurality of IC packages simultaneously using a plurality of IC sockets is provided with a number of cooling heads for cooling IC packages corresponding to all IC sockets. All the cooling heads press the heat slugs of the corresponding IC sockets, causing them to move downward, the heat slugs press the respective IC packages so as to cool all the IC packages via the heat slugs.